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the feasibility of a cup of tea at an unusual hour

There is an old saying amongst local university students that “it is too late to study once the jacarandas are in bloom”. As I drove through the main street of our village this morning the brilliant purple blooms of the jacarandas greeted me and I thought of that saying. It takes on a slightly different meaning when one is a teacher and no longer a student though!

The jacarandas where is bloom last year as we moved to our house on the hill in the village. A year has almost passed since we moved from the city to our tree change paradise, and my, what a year it has been.

As we moved, Daughter2 moved to Perth taking a piece of my heart with her, but it has been a positive move for her as she has a good life there and has met Mr Maybe Right!

2014 brought the arrival of our grand daughter Petite Fille who is the most perfect baby girl in the whole world. She had her first swimming lesson earlier this week. At seven and a half months she was kicking her legs like a little fish by the end of the lesson!

Sadly, Mr FD lost his mother not many weeks after she got to hold Petite Fille, her first great grandchild. She had been told though that two more great grandchildren, twins, were on their way (Mr FD’s niece’s babies, now expected any day – little boys!).

BIL has been the centre of family in recent weeks. On Sunday he sat up in bed and fractured his hip, a common occurrence with bone cancer. This morning they operated on his hip and knee. Next week they may have to operate on his other hip. It all seems so unfair.

Tomorrow I have to drive into the centre of the city for some professional development. An hour in the traffic and I know I will be craving my country home! I also get to spend the entire day in a workshop with the School Principal! We all love spending the day up close and personal with the boss, don’t we?

The next post may be very interesting…

“The proper, wise balancing
of one’s whole life may depend upon the
feasibility of a cup of tea at an unusual hour.”
― Arnold Bennett, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day

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25 thoughts on “the feasibility of a cup of tea at an unusual hour”

You look like you live in a beautiful spot FD. Hearts of mums are broken into little fragments, but then joined up bit by bit as they see the happiness in their eyes. I hope Mr. Maybe Right – is not just a maybe. Petite and her swimming – how wonderful it is to watch them in their first lesson – proud ‘Nanna’ – joy will enter Mr. FD’s life again once the boys are born and thankfully his mum did get to hold Petite…priceless for her. BIL not having an easy road :-( but possibly you won’t either with a day with your boss. Chin up – best face forward :-)

I love Jacaranda trees, especially when they royally carpet the whole street in purple. I’m so sorry about your BiL. Life does deal very unfair hands, doesn’t it? I love the Bennett quote; so quirky. :)

We had a Jacaranda tree in our back yard in Toowoomba many years ago, and when the flowers dropped and composted they made the grass to thick and green underneath, it was a favourite play area for the children.

I was going to say that there is never a bad time to have a cup of tea, but I suspect you referring to some odd event, so I’ll wait for that. :) In the meantime, I hope the spring brings better and happier days for you and particularly your BIL. Cherry blossoms have always been my reminder that spring and a new year has arrived. Jaracandas lining the drive to work must be a consolation of sorts.

I have never seen that tree before. Is it really a year since your move? Wow. Time has flown. Here our trees are autumnal and also beautiful at the other end of the life spectrum… I hope the BIL is not in pain. Sounds quite horrid. You have had quite the year. Good luck with the Principal’s company tomorrow!

Sounds like Petite Fille is right on time with the swimming lessons– there’s actually a lot that instructors can do with children that young. We used to belong to a gym that had incredible swim instruction, and I was always amazed to see how much children could learn at early ages.

We took our children at an early age, and they all got to the stage where they could all save themselves if need be, but no one had Olympic potential. I loved to swim as a child but now the whole idea of wet is too much effort!

Spot on, FD. I think the concern of water safety is a far more practical goal than an Olympic one. That was the aim, or so I understood, of teaching babies these skills: so their risk of drowning was lowered.

I love the Jacarandas, too. we have one in our yard. There are quite a few in the district.
Sorry to hear about your problems, though. Life can be difficult. But there are so many wonderful things to see, to smell, to taste, to hear, and to hold. :)